Coincidence and Destiny
by Poesia-Raro
Summary: What do you call it when you happen to be working late on the very night that the person you're in love with needs a ride home? Coincidence... or destiny? Basically Abhirika, but with an interesting twist.


**::/Coincidence And Destiny/::**

.

A/N: Before I say anything else- I really, sincerely, desperately hope no one else has had this idea before me! It's my baby, just like the Rockstar pairing, and I will honestly be devastated if it's already been thought of. But it's OK if it has... I'll just be happy with this different angle. :)

By the way, this is set somewhere in the early days of Abhirika's relationship or a-bit-more-than-just-friendship or whatever you want to call it. And to those who disapprove of Abhijeet's new name, sorry, but there are only so many names that start with 'Abhi'. Look on the bright side- at least this one is similar. I changed Tarika's name entirely. And on the even brighter side, at least I'm writing an Abhirika (even if it's not what you expect! :P).

Inspired by a song sequence from the Tamil movie _Naan Ee _(originally _Eega _in Telugu and now dubbed as _Makkhi _in Hindi.)

Happy reading (I hope)!

.

/\\/\\/\\

.

Darkness was steadily creeping across the sky outside and several stars were starting to make their appearance. The moon hung amidst them, blanketing the city in its radiant yet soft light. This scene, however, which would have moved the hearts of poets and photographers alike, had no effect whatsoever on one particular girl.

She sat with her head bent, thoroughly immersed in the contents of a file she was poring over. Dark eyes that reminded one of melting Bournville chocolate moved over the pages, concentration etched in every line of the face that had made countless men lose more than one good night's sleep. And not all of those men were criminals either. Long silky hair fell forwards over one shoulder, and she impatiently reached up to tuck it behind her ear. She wasn't one to bother with such frivolous things as hairstyles. When it came to duty, she normally didn't bother with pretty much anything else- which was why she was still in the CID bureau at ten in the night.

So absorbed was she in her work that the sudden ringing of her mobile phone was enough to nearly make her jump out of her skin. A hand over her pounding heart, she pulled out the phone to answer it. "Bloody hell, Daya, you practically gave me heart failure!"

"Good," he retorted from the other end. "At least then maybe you'd come to your senses. What are you doing in the bureau at this hour? Do you even realise what time it is?"

"Daya..."

"No, seriously, it's really great to be so duty-bound, but there's a limit, you know!"

"Daya."

"I swear, one of these days you'll go craz-"

_"Daya!"_ she exclaimed irritably. "Yaar, are you even listening to me?"

"Abby, please." Her best friend's voice was patient. "Just go home already. I know for a fact that you haven't slept properly in two weeks."

"What do you mean, two weeks?" Abby protested, her eyes widening innocently even though he wasn't in front of her- it had become a reflex move whenever he confronted her about her highly irregular daily routine. "It's only been ten days... or was it twelve days? Wait..." She frowned, trying and failing to remember. Daya made a noise halfway between a sigh and a snort. "Abhilasha, you are unbelievable."

"Yes I am, and it's _Abby_, thank you very much," she said in a prim tone, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "I'm Abhilasha only to criminals and DCP Shamsher, and you, thankfully, are neither."

"OK, OK. But please, if you care about me at all, just get out of there," wheedled Daya, sounding uncannily like a mother coaxing her child to stop playing and come to dinner. "It's past ten already, if you don't go home right now I'm gonna come to the bureau and take you home myself."

"Yes, father," Abby replied patiently as she got to her feet and put the file safely away in a drawer. "I'm leaving right now. Yes, of course I'll text you when I reach. Bye." She hung up as she swiftly descended the stairs, her hair swishing around her shoulders. When she went over to her car, however, she was greeted by a rather unpleasant shock- it had run out of petrol.

"Damn!" she cursed, angrily thumping her fist on the hood of the car to vent her feelings before pulling out her phone to call Daya. Before she could dial the number, though, she decided against it. Daya had already had a long day, what with hunting down, chasing and arresting a serial killer all within twelve hours. She didn't want to drag him out of bed at this hour just to give her a ride home.

No sooner had this thought occurred to her, than her eyes fell on another car parked a little distance away from hers. Her hand holding the mobile phone, which had dropped to her side just a moment ago, tentatively raised again as she sent a text message.

As she had anticipated, within a few minutes she heard approaching footsteps, and couldn't resist smiling slightly to herself. That had been much faster than she had initially thought. Making sure her features were schooled into an expression of nonchalance, she turned to find herself looking at a tall, dark young man who appeared rather out of breath, as though he had been running. His slightly curling hair was a little messed up and he was still wearing his gloves. Abby felt her heart skip a beat, but carefully maintained her neutral expression. "What're you doing here at this hour?"

He blinked and stared at her. "You sent me a blank message," he said, his voice slightly uncertain as he held up his mobile phone. Abby cleared her throat awkwardly. "Oh, um, I... actually..." The next words came out in a rush. "I was going to delete one of your messages and accidentally sent a reply. Sorry."

She tried her best not to look at him as his face fell and he took a few steps back, looking at her with what seemed like wistfulness in his eyes before he turned and walked back towards the stairs.

"Karthik!"

Abby could have kicked herself the next second for the hint of desperation that she hadn't managed to keep out of her voice. She willed herself not to blush, but nevertheless could feel the blood rushing to her face as he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her with a questioning gaze. "Yeah?"

"I... I..." Abby gave up with a gesture of hopelessness. "OK, the thing is, my car's out of petrol and I need a ride home. Do you think maybe you could... I mean, it's OK if you can't, I'll just-"

"No, wait, Abby," Karthik interrupted, coming over to her. "Do you need a ride home?"

Looking up at him, Abby felt her mouth go dry. Not trusting herself to speak, she merely nodded, and saw Karthik's eyes light up as he smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll just lock up the lab and then I'll drop you off on my way home." He cut her off before she could say anything. "It's no problem at all." There was a faint but unmistakeable trace of sadness in his smile as he looked at her. "This is nothing, Abby. I'll do pretty much anything for you. I hope you know that." Both of them briefly averted their gazes, and an awkward silence hung in the air before Karthik hesitantly spoke up. "Abby?"

"Hmm?" Her eyes were unfathomable as she raised her head. He wished she wouldn't do this to him- just that look was enough to make his senses reel every single time. He swallowed and shook his head. "Nothing. I'll just- I'll go lock up the lab, all right?" he said, slightly tripping over the words in his haste. Abby nodded, still fixing him with that thoughtful, unreadable dark gaze, and he quickly went upstairs, trying unsuccessfully to bring his heart rate back to normal.

When he returned, he found Abby leaning against the side of her car, doodling absently on the windshield with her fingertip. His footsteps slowed, seemingly of their own accord, until he came to a standstill, watching her from the foot of the stairs. She straightened up, rubbed her eyes and stretched, the sinuous movement reminding him of a graceful female wildcat.

If he stood there any longer, he suspected very strongly that he might just start hyperventilating.

The worst part was, he knew full well that there were innumerable other men who would happily lay down their lives for just one smile from Abby. By some miracle, he himself had been on the receiving end of many of those smiles. _You're being ridiculous, Karthik, _he berated himself mentally, doing his best to imitate Dr. Salunkhe's most patronising tone of voice. _She's way out of your league. You're just gonna end up looking like a colossal idiot in front of her... oh damn. She saw me. Well done, Dr. Karthik. Real smooth. She probably thinks I'm a creepy stalker now..._

"Karthik?" Abby looked confused as she noticed the forensic doctor skulking near the stairs. "What are you doing over there?" she asked, staring at him in bewilderment as she brushed her hair out of her face.

"Nothing," Karthik said a little too quickly, and Abby raised her eyebrows but let the topic pass. "Well, shall we leave then?"

"Yeah, sure." Once they had gotten into the car, Karthik was presented with the new challenge of driving carefully with Abby right next to him. She smelled of a flowery perfume mingled with a faint hint of gunpowder. An odd combination, to be sure, but he liked it. It was uniquely Abby- feminine yet dangerous.

As she put on her seat belt, Abby couldn't help noticing how Karthik seemed to be slightly tense. Of course the obvious telltale signs hadn't missed her sharp eye, but strangely, this time it was more of an instinctive feeling than an observation. As he pulled out the driveway, she saw his hand clench momentarily on the steering wheel. The next minute, however, her observation was interrupted by the ringing of her mobile.

Pulling it out, she picked up. "Yeah, Daya... _yes_, I've left the bureau! Chill already, yaar... what?" She listened for a few seconds and let out an exasperated groan. "Daya, I can't believe we're having this conversation. I may be a girl, but I'm a CID officer, not some pathetic little damsel in distress, all right? Yeah, exactly, you _know _that." She let out a sudden giggle. "Of course. How can I forget?" She rolled her eyes and grinned as he said something. "Yeah, OK. Yes, I'll text when I reach. Yeah. Bye." She hung up, shaking her head. "I swear, this Daya's gonna end up with an abnormal BP one day because of me. I can take perfectly good care of myself, for heaven's sake!"

"Well-known fact," Karthik agreed. "In fact, if any guy tried to act smart with you I think you'd put him in the hospital without batting an eyelid."

"Karthik." Abby pulled herself up, staring incredulously at him. "You're talking to the girl who's trounced more than a hundred such guys over the course of five years."

"Really?" He raised an interested eyebrow at her as he turned a corner and headed toward the main road. "What kind of stuff have you done? Just so I don't find myself hospitalised one day," he added jokingly.

"Oh, I can't remember all of them now." Abby waved a dismissive hand, speaking with the air of a warrior who has fought too many battles to keep count of them. "But there was this one guy in a shop... last year, if I'm not wrong. I went with Daya and Freddy to a shoe store in this dingy old locality, and there was a shop assistant kind of guy who was continuously staring at me with this really creepy look. I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but then he came and sat beside me and tried to feel me up."

Karthik would certainly have crashed the car into a lamppost if Abby hadn't grabbed the steering wheel just in time to avoid it. "Seriously, Karthik!" she said reprovingly.

"Seriously, Abby?" Karthik sputtered in shock. "He tried to _what?"_

Abby gave him a look. "Do you need a hearing aid at such a young age, Dr. Karthik? He tried to feel... me... up," she said loudly and slowly, emphasising the last words.

"So what did you do?"

She smiled, shrugging carelessly. "Not much, just sent his nasal cartilage shooting up into his brain." She indicated the movement with her hand as she spoke, and Karthik burst out laughing. "You broke his nose?" he asked, chuckling in great amusement at the mental image. Abby lowered her eyelashes modestly. "It was nothing. Once a guy got overly friendly when we were undercover at a disco. I kneed him in the place it hurts most and probably made him incapable of reproduction."

_"Abby!"_ Karthik couldn't help laughing even as his face went a brilliant shade of scarlet. "OK, honestly, now I really don't feel safe riding alone in the car with you anymore!"

"Oh, don't worry, Karthik," Abby said cheerfully. "You're perfectly safe. Raging Lioness Abby's hibernated for the day." She reached up to loop her hair into a ponytail, but Karthik impulsively caught her wrist to stop her. "No, leave it. It's... uh... it's pretty." He turned pink and returned his gaze to the road, determinedly avoiding looking at Abby even though he could feel her eyes on him. A minute later, she turned to the window and sat staring out of it as though seeing the outside world for the first time.

_Well done, Karthik. Really brilliant. You should get an award for the maximum number of goof-ups within the first two and a half months of a relationship. Or semi-relationship. Or whatever this thing is. Damn, Abby, why do you have to be so unpredictable and so gorgeous at the same time?_

He was so caught up in berating himself mentally that he barely noticed that they were nearing Abby's house. "Karthik, slow down, my house is right here!" Abby exclaimed, tugging at his shirt sleeve. Promptly jerking out of his reverie, Karthik pulled to a stop, and Abby gave him a curious look. "Where on earth were you?"

"Nowhere," he mumbled. She rolled her eyes in exasperation as they both got out of the car. "Honestly, you really zone out a lot. Do you do that in the lab too?" She snickered. "I don't imagine Dr. Salunkhe would appreciate that very much."

Karthik merely looked at her as she went on about Dr. Salunkhe's disapproval of pretty much anything and everything under the sun. Her face was bathed in moonlight, which reflected off her nosering. That shine, however, went almost unnoticed- it was much easier to get lost in the shine of her eyes. "He doesn't have a problem with it," he said, his voice sounding faint even to his own ears. "Cause it only happens around you."

Abby blinked, and a deep pink flush crept up her face. "I... uh..." She looked down at the ground, and Karthik felt a brief rush of anxiety again. It wasn't unlike trying to catch a deer- just when you thought you had it, it would slip away. He certainly wasn't irrational enough to delude himself into thinking he could actually get a girl like Abby, but he couldn't help but try, even though he felt progressively more like an idiot every time. But he didn't mind- she was worth all this and more. Looking down into her glittering dark eyes now, he knew it for sure, as he had always known. "Abby-"

"Shush." She cut him off, her quiet voice full of something he couldn't quite decipher. "Don't. Just... no, leave it." Her tone was now flat and devoid of emotion. "I better go. Bye, Karthik." Her hair fluttered slightly in the breeze as she turned and walked away, the soft thud of her sneakers against the ground echoing in his head. The familiar sense of loss washed over him all over again as he watched her go, and he stepped back and headed slowly back towards his car.

"Karthik!"

For the second time that night, Abby's call stopped him in his tracks, and he turned to see her standing in the doorway and staring at him with something very like defiance blazing in her beautiful face. Before he could say anything, she crossed the distance between them, pulled him down towards her by the front of his shirt and landed a sound kiss on his cheek. When she let go of his shirt, he pulled back and stared at her as though she had sprouted wings and flown around the city while singing nursery rhymes. She merely smiled up at him, a strange half-smile that went all the way up to her eyes. "Goodnight, Karthik."

With that, she went back the way she had come and disappeared behind her door, Karthik catching a glimpse of her shining eyes just before the door closed. He was gaping at the door in amazement for a full minute before he finally returned to his car, every single one of his senses reeling as though he was under the influence of some incredibly strong drugs. But then again, that was just how Abby was...

As he drove home, Karthik reflected absently on what a lucky coincidence it had been that Abby's car had run out of petrol on the very night that he was working late in the lab. That thought was soon followed, however, by the realisation that it wasn't a coincidence. Oh no, it was much more than just that.

It was destiny, plain and simple.

**~THE END~**

**.**

A/N: Phew! I must say that was much easier to write than a normal Abhirika would have been. I hope it wasn't too hard on you guys either... but hey, at least I did full justice to Abby's description, didn't I? ;) And I was NOT trying to make Tarika (or Karthik, if we go by this story) look dumb or desperate or whatever. It was just plain old insecurity, which happens every time a shy person likes someone whom they see as 'out of their league'.

Anyways, if I start talking, I know I won't finish, so let me stop right here. I won't be posting again till November, so review please! :)


End file.
